Dr Pepper ribs: sticky, spicy and sweet

I’ve been on a rib kick lately. I usually like my ribs simple—seasoned with nothing but a salt, cayenne and black pepper rub, smoked low and slow over post-oak wood. But when I’m trying to make outdoor fare inside, I tend to change my tune. Take my Dr Pepper ribs. These are sticky, spicy and sweet, which is the exact opposite of how I like my barbecue. And yet, I love my Dr Pepper ribs so much that I could eat a whole rack by myself.

Now if you know me well, you are aware that I’m a staunch opponent of sauce on barbecue. And yes, these ribs are wet and messy, so much in fact that if you don’t have a stack of napkins nearby you should probably wear a bib. So what changed my mind and why did I decide to make saucy ribs?

We Texans love to cook with Dr Pepper. I love to use Dr Pepper in my peanut brittle and a Dr Pepper chocolate cake is wonderful as well as it always turns out so moist. But I’d never tried using Dr Pepper with meat and I was curious if it would make that much of a difference.

I’ve tried making meat with my stove-top smoker in the style that I like it, but save for fish and vegetables, the results haven’t been great. So when it comes to oven-baked ribs, I decided to eschew outside authenticity and instead shoot for lots of flavor. Enter the Dr Pepper. At first I tried making my ribs savory, using the Dr Pepper as only a tenderizer. This was wrong as the ribs were soggy with a strange flavor. It wasn’t, however the Dr Pepper’s fault—it was mine for pretending that the drink was something it wasn’t. So I decided that I would embrace the Dr Pepper’s inherent sweetness and try to compliment that with flavors that balanced it instead of fought it.

I coated the ribs in a smoky, sweet dry rub made with chipotle powder and brown sugar and let them rest for a few hours. I then made a glaze with my chipotle ketchup, Dr Pepper, mustard, vinegar, molasses and allspice. I baked the ribs in a low oven for a little over an hour and then started applying my Dr Pepper glaze. After another hour and a stint under the broiler, the meat was tender and each bite was coated in a sticky glaze both fiery and sweet.

Now because these ribs are messy, you may be tempted to eat these with a knife and a fork. Don’t. A year ago, the family was gathered for Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s farm and her neighbor brought over some ribs. Because we were having a sit-down dinner, I started to eat my ribs with a knife and a fork. “What are you doing?” said my uncle. “You don’t eat ribs with silverware! Use your hands like a Texan.”

You won’t find wet, sticky ribs at a Hill Country barbecue joint, so you could argue ribs such as these aren’t authentically Texan. But that’s just silly. Why? Because there’s nothing more Texan than Dr Pepper, chipotle peppers and eating meat with your hands!

What do you like to make with Dr Pepper?

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Dr Pepper ribs

Servings8

AuthorLisa Fain

Ingredients

Ingredients for the ribs:

1/4cupkosher salt

1/4cupblack pepper

1/4cupbrown sugar

4teaspoonsmustard powder

2teaspoonschipotle powder

1/2teaspoonallspice

1/2teaspooncayenne

2rackspork ribs, St. Louis cut

1/4cupDr Pepper

Ingredients for the glaze:

2cupsDr Pepper

1cupketchup

1/2cupmustard

1/4cupapple cider vinegar

2tablespoonsmolasses

2 teaspoonschipotle powder

Instructions

To make a rub, stir together the salt, black pepper, brown sugar, mustard powder, chipotle powder, allspice, and cayenne. Coat the ribs with the rub on both sides, wrap in plastic, then place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Heat the oven to 300° F and bring the ribs to room temperature.

In a foil-lined large baking or roasting pan, arrange the ribs with the meat side up, pour in 1/4 cup of Dr Pepper, cover pan tightly with foil and place in the oven.

Meanwhile, to make the glaze, place the Dr Pepper, ketchup, mustard, apple cider vinegar, molasses, and chipotle powder in a pan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes until thick and syrupy.

After an hour and a half, take the ribs out of the oven and spread some of the glaze on each side of the racks. Place back in the oven, meat side up and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take out the ribs and spread more glaze over them and cook for 30 more minutes or until ribs are desired tenderness.

At this point, take the ribs out of the oven, spread more glaze on them and then cook each side under the broiler for four minutes.

Divide and serve!

Recipe Notes

You can use my chipotle ketchup instead of regular ketchup for the glaze. I used cane sugar Dr Pepper though you can also use regular Dr Pepper, just don’t use diet!

There is more than one way to skin a cat so going sticky time to time is not sacrilegious but just good respect to the meat gods. Personally I prefer the dry rubbed too but some days I am to lazy to tend a smoker all day long.

These ribs sound awesome. I love that you incorporated the chipotle ketchup into the recipe. I occasionally use Dr. Pepper to make roast in the slow cooker. I’ve also used root beer, but I much prefer the good Dr.

YUM! Dr. Pepper barbecue sauce is the BEST! Neither my husband or I are fans of sweet sauces – we prefer sauce the likes of the infamous Salt Lick. I was looking for something a little different and this seemed to fit the bill… I picked up a roast chicken from the grocery, cut it up, slathered it in sauce and reheated on fairly high heat to get a bit of browning/carmelization going on. Made garlic bread, added a vegetable, and voila! yummy QUICK week night meal 🙂

Yay! I heart Dr Pepper. I’m in recovery for my out-of-control love for Diet Dr Pepper (particularly with cherries added at a Sonic happy hour). I love to cook with Dr Pepper and I’m really excited to try your recipe because I’ve never before been brave enough to take on ribs! (And being an “adopted” Texan since I grew up in the deep South, I say, “Bring on the saucy ribs! Sticky BBQ has a place in my heart too. It’ll be like Texas meets home on my plate!”

YUM!! I’ve been craving these since reading about a restaurant due to open this month in my home borough of Brooklyn, NY. The owner, the former partner in Momofuku of world renowned David Chang, apparently specializes in Dr Pepper ribs. Now I don’t have to wait for his damn opening after all!! Thanks!

We recently got our Dublin DP at a convenience store in Tolar. We were headed out to Stephenville, but gave up due to weather and took our chance that it would be cheaper in Tolar than at a Central Market. It was! They want something like $7 for a 6-pack at CM and we got ours for $3 a 6-pack. We bought 2 cases. 😉

I can not wait to try these! I want to let you know that I love puffy taco shells and make yours all the time! I use your flour taco shell recipe and then fry them. You literally saved my taco loving life by posting that one! Thanks!!!

I’ve got a Dr. Pepper pecan chipped beef cheese ball recipe in an old Brittin/Daniel cookbook I snagged from my grandmother. Sacrilegious as it may be to admit, I’m not sure the tiny amount of DP adds much flavor, but I use it anyway because it’s just so much damn fun.

Dr. Pepper Smoked Sausage on the stove for a quick meal is what my mom made. Get a deep skillet, some thawed smoked sausage cut up, add a bottle of your fave bbq sauce (I prefer a mesquite of hickory smoked) and put over the sausage. Then add a can of Dr. P or coke if you don't have any Dr.P. I prefer drinking coke to Dr. P, but Dr.P's better for the recipe. It just gives it better flavor. Mix the Dr.P & BBQ sauce and let it slowly simmer. THis is great for when you don't know when family's coming home. Add some ranch style beans or something and you're good to go. Delicious!

Honestly, this blog is the best thing for someone who claims that God may have her a Yankee-child but heaven knows she’s a Texan at heart!

I’ve planning the menu for the Father’s Day BBQ I’m throwing and I was thinking…gosh I need a damn good ribs recipe. While my dad is a dry rub kinda guy I hope I can win his heart with this recipe, because it sounds absolutely fabulous.

I might have to give it a test run this weekend.

🙂

Thanks so much for your awesome recipes! You make me feel like I’m back in Texas.

Well, I like my ribs wet and sticky, especially with maple syrup (I did grow up in New England after all). As for Dr. Pepper, I think I tasted it once when I was a kid. Let’s just say I never craved a second can. But if anyone could convince me to try a sauce with Dr. Pepper, you could. So I’ll keep an open mind. 🙂

ohhh myy i am reading thes at 2:30 in the morning and now I am hungry … I hardly eat meat at all anymore …but these look soo yummy !!! I love my Dr P in the winter time or if i am feeling achy i heat up a lil bit with a slice of lemon in it and it just makes me feel so much better . keep up the great work and keep the recipes coming !!!

I have seen this recipe in a book, and prefer a dry rib as well, but must say, as a recovering Dr. Pepper addict, these look mighty tasty. I live in Oklahoma, and was shocked to find a store just this week, that sold Dublin Dr. Pepper. I’m off the wagon. Will have to try this recipe. Thanks!

Wow! I can not wait to cook these! We just recently moved from New Braunfels to just outside Boston, MA, and lordy how I miss my barbque ribs. Dr Pepper can be hard to find here too (and Frito’s bean dip for some reason)! But I have just got to make this!

Lisa-someday I hope I can inspire people like you do through your blog. All these comments are just great. The ribs in this post sound incredible. As a Texas I can honestly say I have never cooked with Dr Pepper but my roots are from south Texas, we usually use a good Mexican beer in out cooking. Thank you for the wonderful recipe, you have no idea how badly I want ribs right now!

This sounds fantastic. And, can I just say I love how you answer comments personally? Your site is wonderful. My son and his six-man football teammate are getting your biscuits with breakfast in the morning!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I’m so excited to see this (can you tell?)!! I made a soup with Dr. Pepper a couple months ago, and it was wonderful! I can’t wait to try this! Seriously, I will be making this! I bet I’ll want to eat an entire rack myself, too! 🙂

My best friend’s brother was the manager for the DP Distribution in Mason for as long as I have known them. All this talk of DP BBQ and Chocolate cake and whatnot leaves me longing for home. Can’t wait to get back to The Lone Star State! Thanks for the ideas.

I made this a few days ago and it was really good. I put in all 4 tsp of chipotle sauce and it left quite a burn! Maybe next time I will just use 3 tsp! But I had already made a slaw recipe and it cooled me down!

As I scrolled down the page to send you three cheers, two thumbs up and one cyber howdy for the grin I have reading your blog and recipes… I saw Twilight's comment about Frito onion rings/Dr.Pepper aioli on Chef Masters. What the what?

I can't believe the DP reduction 'secret' went national! Back home in Cowtown (Fort Worth), it’s a given that Fritos and Dr. Pepper are basic food groups. Hopefully, Frito Chili Pie remains sacred at least! Especially the stadium method – although if Friday night Texas football has never been experienced, one couldn't possibly understand the clever bag-as-bowl idea, nor fully appreciate the divinely simple corn commas blanketed with thinned-out, overly simmered, yet strangely appealing, chili that’s best served by ladling from a vat of PTA Hormel… and washed down with DP in a sweating waxed-paper cup, naturally. Sigh.

Howdy from Andi, a recovering Texan in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (lost in drooling Texmex reverie and visions of El Fenix salsa)

Hi Lisa! For this recipe, can you skip the mustard? I am actually very highly allergic to mustard (no Salt Lick BBQ for me!) and would love to try this but need to leave it out. Should I try to sub it with sumthin' else or just leave it out altogether? And can you post a recipe on DP Chocolate Cake?! Holy hell that sounds tasty!

Oh. My. Hell. These were freaking amazing! I made them last night for a friend's birthday party and they were GONE. We cooked them for two hours in the oven and then threw them on the grill for about 30 minutes to get a nice crispy crust on them and they were so good. HEB had boston butt ribs already cut up on sale so we used though and they were still good. Lisa, thanks so much for the recipe! We've got a new family favorite!

Just wanted to share with you that I made your recipe last night and these ribs were so good! We invited some friends over and I used them as guinea pigs and they loved them. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas!!!

my dads been making dr pepper ribs since i was a little girl and when i come back to texas to visit he always asks what i want him to make for me and I always answer with his dr pepper ribs! and chipped beef, of course!

he never follows a recipe so i will definitely be trying this one! thanks!

I'm having a grill off this weekend… Top chef style.. Totally gonna do this recipe.. Gonna start in the oven as said, but will finish on the grill.. Sides will be a poppy seed co'slaw (red cabbage, apple, carrot, raisins, and the white poppy seed dressing) and a jalapeno cheesy scalloped potato dish. Can't wait.. I'll let you know the results… I'm not competing against ribs.. So not sure exactly how the judging is gonna happen. I'm going up against a brisket.. And not sure what else.. Wish me luck!

Tried the low and slow technique on the webber kettle using the Dr Pepper rub & sauce ( with regular Dr Pepper) turned out great on the pork shoulder ( butt) I started basting after getting a nice dark bark on the outside. Also I used some smoking chips to enhance the smokiness from the chipotle. Great recipes Lisa and thanks for sharing, I love trying American cooking in Australia!

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